"Zane! I need your help!"


I am literally in the middle of unlocking my front door. Just got home. Key is still in the lock. When I hear Harper frantically say this from behind me. Which instantly causes me to spin around because this woman never comes to my front door. Then I see her rushing towards me and I kinda have to do a double take, because she's carrying a tiny, white and blond kitten. I say nothing, I merely watch as she approaches with my eyebrow arched, silently wondering what could possibly come of this.


"I need your help."


"I heard you the first time when you bellowed that from down the hall. What's up? What do you need?"


"First, know that I really need this favor, it's super important and you can't say no."


That is not a good lead in. Not at all.


"What's going on?"


"Just promise me you won't say no."


"I can't promise that. I don't know what you're going to ask me. What if you're late on rent and you want me to eat Octavian's brain."


Octavian is our building's landlord. He hails from Iceland. When I first moved in, he was super into me and kept finding reasons to come by my apartment to "fix" things. I suppose it was a nice gesture, in theory but it was also severely laced in creeper vibes. On top of that it made it extremely difficult to keep my special dietary requirements hidden. If I left him alone for two minutes. while he was doing repairs, I'd suddenly find him poking about in my fridge. Not good, considering the fact that there was always a tupperware container of brains, sitting right there on one of the shelves.


It all came to a head... when he quite frankly, posed the offer of giving me head, to which I declined. He apologized, walked out looking embarrassed and never knocked on my door again. Which I was grateful for at first, until I realized that meant if I actually needed repairs after that, I was shit out of luck. Yeah, it's been going on eight months now, and the kitchen sink still drips. I've stopped mentioning anything to him about it by this point. He says "hi" to me every time he sees me in the hall though, except if he has a male companion with him, then he also finds it necessary to furiously make out with whoever it is until the point where they're practically ripping each others clothes off and fucking right there, where they stand. Makes getting the mail a real challenge sometimes.


"What? I wouldn't ask you to do that!"


"Well you also wouldn't normally make me promise to not say no to something before you even presented the question. We're venturing into new territories here. I don't know what's going on. Are you even the real, Harper? Quick. What's my middle name?"


"You don't have a middle name."


"Yeah. Right. Good. No. You're correct in that, I don't."


Shifty eyes.


"Now I know you're the real deal."


"Wait. You have a middle name?"


"Noooo. I don't have a... weren't you going to ask me for a favor?"


"Are you going to promise not to immediately say no?"


"No."


My swift refusal causes her to huff and puff as she stomps her foot.


"Come on Zane, I never ask you for anything."


"That's not true. You ask me for everything, always."


"Well, I haven't asked you for anything, recently."


"Just this morning I loaned you money for cigarettes."


"Dude, seriously? Like I never pay you back or some shit. Don't be a dick, I need this shit."


"Fine. I promise I won't say no."


"Can I leave this kitten with you for a couple of hours?"


"No!"


"But you said..."


"Are you trying to start the apocalypse? Kitties have claws, that they like to use. I'm a zombie. One scratch and that kitty won't be a normal kitty anymore, then what? It becomes a zombie kitten, that's what. Then what if it gets loose after that and scratches someone? Then that person infects someone else, and so on, and so on, and then by sunrise... BOOM! The apocalypse is already in its first stage."


"You're being way over dramatic."


"Am I? I think I'm being pretty damn realistic here."


"Why would it scratch you, turn and immediately escape?"


"Sees another cat outside, from the window and wants to eat its brains."


"Are you for real, right now?"


"It's possib... why do you need me to watch it anyway? Since when do you have a kitten?"


"I just got her today. It's a gift for Katie. She's not home yet."


"And?"


"I have to work and she won't stop doing these little high pitch mews. It's cute but it's also driving me crazy. I have a deadline and if I don't get this article written and sent in, my editor is going to tell me that I have to go find another magazine to write for."


"That seems harsh."


"It is the New Yorker."


"Touche."


"So you see my dilemma here?"


"Yeah, I guess. Alright, your kitten can crash here with me, till you get your article written."


With an excited squeal Harper thrust the small kitten into my arms.


"Thank you, Zane. You're a lifesaver. I totally owe you one. You will not regret this. I promise."


Quickly flashing a grin, Harper then takes off down the hall.


"No, but you might."


I say this as I look down at the tiny ball of fluff in my arms. The kitten looks up at me, innocently and mews. It's squeaky and cute. Not very loud either, like in the range of sound with 1 being the softest and 10 being the loudest, it was 1 at best. Harper was crazy.


"Shut up, you already got a place to stay, you don't need to try to convince me any further."


The kitten mews again and I shake my head, slightly smiling as I enter my apartment. Secretly ecstatic, in spite of the fuss I put up. I've always liked cats. I need to be cautious though and that stopped me from getting one. It would seem that fate has plopped one into my life regardless of that. I only hope this doesn't end in tragedy.




"Hey, Jake Avery. Sorry to say, I am not that familiar with you, beyond the fact that we both wrestled on the last edition of Warfare. You were in a triple threat match, while I took on Mastermind. Now this Saturday we get to meet in the ring. From what I saw you seem to be able to handle yourself well in the ring and that's good. You'll need those skills on Saturday. Because I intend to come at you with everything I've got and then some. See, I just got back after a little bit of a hiatus and I'm coming into this fight, fresh off a win. I'm feeling the groove, you know what I sayin' and I want it to keep going. I don't intend to get cut down by you, no sir I do not. I'm going to come in hard and fast and if you're not ready or you underestimate me, that'll be your greatest downfall. Just ask Mastermind."


"Oh and I'd feel terrible if I didn't tell you that those rumors you may have heard, about me being a zombie, well they're true. I managed to get through my fight with Mastermind without incident, which was weird because I fully intended on ripping that man apart and yet, I did nothing of the sort. I actually kind of think I was drugged or something because that entire fight was a blur. Come to think of it, the water I drank did taste funny that night. Regardless of all that, I will do my best to control myself with you because from what I can tell, you're human and I'm not out to infect anyone. You have my word, I will try very hard to execute restraint. Anyway, I think that about covers it... for now. I look forward to hearing from you, Jake. And if I don't, then I suppose I'll simply see you in the ring."

1x X-Treme Champ
1x Hart Champion
1x SOTM November 2018